page_title: Broadview Developmental Center
section_title: Abandonment/Deinstitutionalization
hierarchical_section_title: Broadview Developmental Center / Abandonment/Deinstitutionalization
caption_attribution_description: English: Demolition showcasing the front of the Broadview Developmental Center.
context_page_description: The Broadview Developmental Center was a psychiatric hospital built in 1939 near Broadview Heights, Ohio, United States. Constructed under the Works Progress Administration as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, it functioned as a Veterans Administration Hospital until 1966 when it was sold to the state of Ohio. The Broadview Developmental Center was then converted into a psychiatric hospital, and remained open until 1993 when the prevailing opinion on mental health shifted from institutional care to community-based care, and the hospital lost its funding. The building was demolished in 2006, except for its newest portion, which was kept as the city of Broadview Heights' city hall and recreation centre.
context_section_description: The building was abandoned almost immediately. Large amounts of medical and office equipment were left within, personal artifacts belonging to former staff and patients, and numerous filing cabinets filled with patient records. The abandonment caused a large amount of controversy, as the majority of former patients had been released to community-based organizations (most residents did not have any family what so ever), and all records of their treatment, progress, and illness have been lost in the subsequent clean-up and renovation.
  Broadview became a popular target for vandalism, and also attracted paranormal investigators as rumors began to surface that the facility was haunted by former patients. Its windows were boarded and the city erected a chain-link fence to keep out would-be explorers. General Assembly voted to sell Broadview Center to the City of Broadview Heights. In the Broadview closure, the local County Board of MR/DD, Cuyahoga County, developed the community alternatives, and community outcomes were improved. In the Broadview closure, parents were active stakeholders in a state-sponsored Oversight Committee, and they helped to establish the criteria for what was needed to support their son or daughter in the community. 
  It remained in this condition until 1995, when the general Assembly voted to sell Broadview Center to the City of Broadview Heights. The city of Broadview Heights purchased the Developmental Center from the state of Ohio for $750,000. The city tore down many of the outlying structures including the cottages, and built a new police station on the grounds. The building was partially renovated and transformed into a community center with an indoor swimming pool and recreational facilities. During the renovation, city inspectors discovered a significant asbestos threat, forcing a temporary delay in construction while the hazardous substance was removed.
caption: Early 2006 Demolition
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Eastman Kodak Company", "Image Model": "DC210 Zoom (V05.00)", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "216", "Image YResolution": "216", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "374", "Thumbnail ImageWidth": "96", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "72", "Thumbnail BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Thumbnail Compression": "Uncompressed", "Thumbnail PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Thumbnail StripOffsets": "928", "Thumbnail SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Thumbnail RowsPerStrip": "72", "Thumbnail StripByteCounts": "20736", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0110", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "1997:01:01 00:00:50", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "0/0", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "19/2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "0/0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "22/5"}